Beginning next month, along with the enforcement of the limited plastic ban, Samtse town will start segregating waste at source. At present, residents dump all kinds of waste together into the municipal garbage truck.
A multi-agency stakeholder meeting was held yesterday to inform the public about the upcoming change.
Municipal waste collection trucks work six days a week. Driving around four different zones it makes sure the residents dispose of their waste three times a week. However, both degradable and non-degradable wastes are collected together.
About three kilometres away from the town, at the municipal waste disposal site in Majathang, there is no provision to segregate or manage waste.
At the stakeholder meeting, various government and private agencies, local government officials, individual representatives from different localities in the town, and the dzongkhag officials met to discuss waste segregation at source.
“From our side, we have been sensitizing the public for more than two years now. In the 12th five-year plan, we have allocated budget to segregate waste at the disposal site. Starting next month, we will start segregating waste,” Tenzin Dakpa, the In-charge, Samtse Municipality, said.
The meeting also informed the gathering to make people aware of the nationwide implementation of the limited plastic ban.
The dzongkhag will identify the officials including the police to levy fines if one is found in violation of the ban. The fines range from Nu 500 for the first time offenders to Nu 1000 for the second offence leading to the cancellation of license on the third subsequent violation.
The National Environment Commission (NEC) announced the reinforcement of plastic bags and wrappers in January this year.
